This is where we have to depart! Sorry to say but you’re on your own. You should have plenty of leftovers that are frozen, ready, and waiting! I know a lot of you out there have trouble with timing and are busy people – so making sure that some nights you make extras to freeze is important. All those leftovers you have in the freezer? Use them up! Create your own meal plan, at first using this as a guide, and then completely doing it yourself. Once you get the hang of it, it’ll be a sinch – I promise you 🙂
Fears about fat: Most people have trouble on a ketogenic diet plan because they are scared to increase the amount of fat they eat, especially saturated fat. The message that fat is bad has been pounded into the collective American consciousness for the last 30 years. It's hard to unlearn the message that fat makes you fat, and saturated fat especially is very bad for you. I understand that message has been repeated over and over, but it is a lie.
I’m starting the Keto diet tomorrow, and I am making my list to go to Walmart. I don’t really know where to start such as snack foods. With me being a full time student and working full time, it seems hard to plan out my meals and snacks like what I need to snack on and eat. I definitely need advice and tips on how to help stay on track and get started, any help is greatly appreciated!
^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s Kossoff EH, Zupec-Kania BA, Amark PE, Ballaban-Gil KR, Bergqvist AG, Blackford R, et al. Optimal clinical management of children receiving the ketogenic diet: recommendations of the International Ketogenic Diet Study Group. Epilepsia. 2009 Feb;50(2):304–17. doi:10.1111/j.1528-1167.2008.01765.x. PMID 18823325
You’ll quickly find that salads are your friend when in ketosis, and for a good reason: they provide lots of food to fill you up, but they’re not going to bog you down. A bed of spinach with some red onion, bacon, a little tomato, and a hot sauce vinaigrette is quick and delicious. Add in some protein – perhaps that leftover salmon from day 1 – and you’ve got a complete, healthy lunch.

People also see good weight loss results on the keto diet because eating a low carb, high fat diet can help you feel less hungry and not have to count calories or portion sizes to lose weight. Plus, cutting out the refined carbs and sugars normally present in a traditional Western diet helps avoid crazy spikes in blood sugar that can lead to the feeling of being hungry again soon after eating.

Ketone esters: These are the raw ketones (in this case, beta-hydroxybutryate) that are not bound to any other compound. These exogenous ketones can be utilized quicker and potentially have a better effect at raising blood ketone levels as your body doesn’t have to cleave the BHB from any other compound. The downside? They typically have a foul taste and can cause an upset stomach.
If you’re not sure after your initial test, explore other healthy diets such as clean eating and always have in mind that your number 1 goal should be to avoid overly processed foods (keeping this definition fairly broad of course, as we live in the 21st century and have to adapt to modern age as well, where hardly any of us have time to spend 12 hours a day evolving around food production, gathering and cooking).
Many ketogenic dieters also swear by MCT oil. (MCT simply stands for medium chain triglycerides.) MCT's energy-sustaining powers can be explained as follows: When MCT oil is metabolized in the body, it behaves more like a carbohydrate than a fat. Unlike other fats, MCT oil does not go through the lymphatic system. Instead, it is transported directly to the liver where it is metabolized so it releases energy like a carbohydrate and creates lots of ketones (which can be used for fuel) in the process.
It can be tricky calculating the precise kind of diet that leads to a long life. Part of the problem is that (thankfully) we don't live our lives in highly controlled laboratory conditions. Until that terrifying day arrives and we all become well-studied lab rats, we have to rely on long-term observational data, usually in the form of surveys, to know more about which diets are the best long-term plans.
A third study published this week in the journal PLOS Medicine that surveyed the eating habits of 471,495 Europeans over 22 years found that people whose diets had lower "nutritional quality" (i.e., fewer fresh vegetables, legumes, and nuts) were more likely to develop some of the most common and deadliest forms of cancer, including colon, stomach, lung, liver, and breast cancers.
Yvette, Oh no, sorry to hear about the chicken not being cooked! Was the chicken frozen to start with? If so, be sure to add 5 minutes to your Instant Pot cooking time (on manual high pressure). When we tested this, we literally just put everything into the IP (nestled down into the liquid, of course), and let it do its thing. The cream cheese softened, and when it was done cooking we removed the chicken to shred it, and the sauce stirred together nicely.
Lastly, if you're active, you might need to make some adjustments to take that into account. "For the first one to two weeks, temporarily reducing your exercise load can be helpful as your body adjusts to being in ketosis," he says. "Additionally, for those who have an intense workout schedule, carb cycling may be a good option." Carb cycling essentially means you'll increase your carb intake on the days you're doing exercise, ideally just two to three days per week. "While low-carb days may be around 20 to 30 grams of net carbs daily, high-carb days can range all the way up to 100 grams, although it can vary based on your size and activity level," says Dr. Axe. (Related: 8 Things You Need to Know About Exercising on the Keto Diet.)
A word of warning: be very wary of “keto” or “low carb” versions of cakes, cookies, chocolate bars, candies, ice cream, and other sweets. They will keep your cravings for a sugary taste, and can make you eat more than you need. They are oftan full of sugar alcohols – that can raise your blood sugar – and artificial sweeteners, whose health impacts are not yet known. Weight loss may also stall or slow. Learn more

Here are a few of the most common side effects that I come across when people first start keto. Frequently the issues relate to dehydration or lack of micronutrients (vitamins) in the body. Make sure that you’re drinking enough water (close to a gallon a day) and eating foods with good sources of micronutrients. To read more on micronutrients, click here >